Surfaces, such as walkways, driveways, patios, floors, work surfaces, walls and other interior or exterior surfaces can be covered with flagstones, stones, bricks, and other natural paving objects for durability and aesthetics. These surfaces are usually constructed by fitting together irregularly sized and shaped naturally paving objects. This work is labor intensive, and accordingly expensive, as it requires a skilled stonemason to select, cut, and fit the natural paving objects. Various efforts have rigorously been made to develop artificial paving objects with the appearance of flagstones, stones, bricks, and other natural paving objects. Such artificial paving objects as opposed to natural paving objects are usually relatively inexpensive to produce, and thus reduce the overall cost in constructing such a surface. One disadvantage has been these products may not provide a sufficiently aesthetically pleasing appearance with a degree of natural irregularity. In addition to this, the current available artificial paving objects in the market generally involve complex manufacturing processes and/or exhibit poor shock absorbing performance.
Moreover, each year millions of adults aged 65 and older fall. Falls can cause moderate to severe injuries, such as hip fractures and head traumas, and can increase the risk of early death. One out of three older adults (those aged 65 or older) falls each year. Among older adults, falls are the leading cause of both fatal and nonfatal injuries. In 2013, 2.5 million nonfatal falls among older adults were treated in emergency departments and more than 734,000 of these patients were hospitalized. In 2013, the direct medical costs of falls, adjusted for inflation, were $34 billion.
Twenty to thirty percent of people who fall suffer moderate to severe injuries such as lacerations, hip fractures, and head traumas. These injuries can make it hard to get around or live independently, and increase the risk of early death. Falls are the most common cause of traumatic brain injuries (TBI). About one-half of fatal falls among older adults are due to TBI. Most fractures among older adults are caused by falls. The most common are fractures of the spine, hip, forearm, leg, ankle, pelvis, upper arm and hand.
Many people who fall, even if they are not injured, develop a fear of falling. This fear may cause them to limit their activities, which leads to reduced mobility and loss of physical fitness, and in turn increases their actual risk of falling.
Consequently, there remains a yet unmet need for improved artificial pavers and methods for manufacturing artificial pavers that are inexpensive to produce. Such an improved artificial paver may be one wherein the surface of the artificial paver exhibits an efficient shock absorbing effect, which can reduce the probability of injury when falling or tripping, while still mimicking the appearance of natural stone, wood, brick and concrete pavers. Such an improved artificial paver may also be one wherein the surface of the artificial paver exhibits an efficient shock absorbing effect, which can reduce the probability of injury when falling or tripping, while having a specific shape such as rectangular, square, circular, elliptical, etc. or other specific shape desired by the manufacturers and customers. Such an improved artificial paver may likewise be one wherein the surface of the artificial paver exhibits an efficient shock absorbing effect, which can reduce the probability of injury when falling or tripping, without mimicking the appearance of any natural stone, wood, brick, and concert paver (e.g., a flat surface with no rock texture). The improved methods should comprise steps manufacturing the aforementioned improved artificial pavers.